This is a project by Team 1 of IMVCS-1101.
I covered (i) Enterprise Design Thinking (EDT), (ii) developed the coding for the Smart Contract using VS Code and (iii) profiles in the IBM Blockchain Platform (IBP), while the other three members looked into other aspects.
Project Outcome: Out of six, we were the only team that had developed a working prototype blockchain architecture presented on 22 July 2021. What this means that all the transactions (or, donations) were made via our dedicated OneHeart gateway that I developed. In addition, the donations were added up instantaneously and recorded on the blockchain enforced by the Smart Contract - the most crucial feature demostrating that C.P.I.F had reached.
Documentation: I hope that this recording of my coding journey can help future learners embarking on a blockchain development journey, as well as charting out what is next for myself now that the project has ended. Along with it, a brief project outline as shown below. I also shared some salient points on other lab exercises to enrich the learning.
The journey never stops. There are more to dive into.
- configure IBP on different machines simulating a different org while adding more attributes and peers
- develop Smart Contract in other languages with more complexity
- create cloud native (client) applications to interface with the blockchain
- continue to research deeper into cybersecurity fences
Above ALL, and Always
Crowdfunding is a way of raising funds by asking the public for a, large or small, amount of money as a form of donation. This project aims to create a new business process using blockchain technology.
Before you proceed: I always believe that tutorials should provide a snapshoot of final outcome first so that students know what is expected. Here is a 30-sec clip on the completed prototype. If it is not what you are looking for, search other gits.
Below listed 5 problems with the current business process which our team had identified. Combining the used of blockchain technology, the proposed solution is as shown.
This is the first draft design of the software coding communications flow between client application, blockchain consortium, and authorization and resource servers.
The codes are modified from open source in the IBM tutorial, tested using 1 and 2 Orgs templates* (2 CA, 2 peer, 1 channel) before moving onto the IBM Blockchain Platform.
(see Step four): https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/blockchain-sw-251?topic=blockchain-sw-251-develop-vscode#develop-vscode-guided-tutorials
My 2 cents worth...
- Obviously to build your own blockchain, modify from the examples to form your Organizations, Channels, Ordering Services and others to suit your needs. I strongly recommend that you copy and paste the tutorials out so that you can make you own notes along the way.
- Do screenshoots to capture the changes, and purposely do the wrong steps so that to test out different settings/scenarios. I did all of these.
- Consider this! If plainly follow the tutorial shown below can build up a blockchain, everyone would have successfully done so, but it is not.
Sample Network Tutorial series
👍 IBM has rich tutorial resources! 👍
I followed this three-part tutorial series that explain the process of creating a simple multi-node Hyperledger Fabric network that builds on Kubernetes allowing the deployment of a smart contract. Here are some key points to note:
- Most of the IBM tutorials are in Hyperledger Fabric v1.4, like the one i referenced to. However, I ran it on Fabric v2.x. i.e. the peers and channels created in IBM Blockchain Platform (IBP) must be running a Fabric v2.x image too. You have to catch the difference.
- The goodness of this tutorial is that it tells you when to check your Wallet, i.e. progressively check if you are on the right direction.
- With sample usernames and pw, it tells you at which configuration to make reference to them, thus making sure you do not go wrong.
Tutorial 1 - Build a network
Follow this tutorial to build up a basic blockchain network with one organization and an ordering service.
- In my own words, you are playing the role of Developer A for Org A kick-starting a blockchain network. This will then become the first step for other organizations to join your business network.
- There are three videos guides embedded in tutorial 1 as shown:
Tutorial 2 - Join a network
How can a consortium work with just one organization? So...
- Study this tutorial (no video guide for this tut) to create more organizations and add them the network that you built.
- What is not stated clearly is that you are playing this role of Developer B from Org B creating your organization in the different machine using different account in order to join an existing network created in tutorial 1. This is what in the real-world is happening.
- For learning purpose, you probably doubled-role and creating the all these (Org A and Org B) on the same machine like what I did. But, know the difference!
Tutorial 3 - Deploy a smart contract on the network using Fabric v2.x
Finally, deploy your smart contract on a network.
Here shows some essential steps to check along the way to ensure that you are on the right track.
- Inside my IBM Cloud account, do check that on the Kubernetes dashboard for proper deployment
- Here's a look at what IBM Blockchain Platform is capable of enabling me to built in a short time span. Of course, this is built as a prototype only.
- As you add more CAs and Peers, do also check that their Identities are correspondingly created in the Wallet tab
- At the development stage, define the purpose of the different channels clearly, such as:
- which user to achnor which identity
- which Org is the lead Org in making changes
- how many orgs are needed to commit changes
